Milestones at Barth Schleiftechnik
Way back in 1964, Ernst Barth established a small tool grinding business, working from the cellar of his home. He borrowed DM 20,000 from his mother to buy a Deckel S1 tool grinder, which allowed him to start up the business. At the outset, he worked on his own, but he quickly saw that he would need help, so his wife, Gertrud, started to work on the machine with him.
In 1988, Ernst Barth joined forces with other tool-grinding colleagues to establish the Fachverband Deutscher Präzisionsschleifer (German Precision-Grinding Association), and was active as a member of its Board for many years. In this role in the FDPW, he helped to prepare the way for GRIND-TEC in Augsburg, the world’s leading grinding technology trade fair that was held for the first time in 1998.
The company moved to new production premises (some 400 m2) in Eisackstraße in 1989.
In 1990, the company passed into the hands of Michael Barth - the founder's son - after he had completed his toolmaker’s training. The company invested in its first CNC machines at the same time. After a six-month stay in the USA on a programming course for grinding machinery and after “special training” from his father, Michael Barth achieved the title of Master Cutting Tool Mechanic in 1993 – making him the first, the youngest and the only person to hold this title in Germany.
In 1995, he took over the company from his father. By now it had grown to 12 people. There was further investment in CNC grinders and production was extended into another basement.
In 2000, the Ernst Barth Werkzeugschleiferei became Barth Schleiftechnik GmbH.
An ISO 9001 quality management system was introduced in 2004.
After further extending the production facilities to 1200 m2 and totally renovating the premises in 2006. Barth Schleiftechnik introduced an automatic loading system for two Deckel S22 CNC machines to set up the unmanned “ghost shift”. This is monitored remotely over the Internet using a number of cameras.